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25 December 2015

One of the polishes I keep for Christmas is Red Carpet Laquer Zoinks!, It's a green and red glitter in a clear base and it's pretty much made for this time of year. Generally I layer it over a white base but that gets pretty boring after a while and I'm so sick of white nails at the moment. Instead I tried it over Essence I <3 Trends in So Lucky and it really suited it.

So Lucky is a light green pastel with a slight holographic shimmer running through it. I did 2 thicker coats of this to get it opaque. Then once it was dried I added on a coat of Zoinks! followed with a coat of the Sally Hansen 3d Gel topcoat. I think it looks really pretty over the green base and you can still see the colours of the glitter clearly.

24 December 2015

Some bright nails for A Weekly Dose of Rainbows. This week it's a snowman theme so I kept it pretty simple. I used 2 coats of Essence the gel nail polish in Play with my Mint for my base. I kept my accent nail plain with a white base. Then I added on the hat with Sally Hansen Miracle gel in 560 Spice Age. The belt on the hat is SoSu polish in Silver lining. His eye are Essence the gel nail polish in Electriiiiiic. The nose is my trusty Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Electra Cute. Finally his mouth is Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl, I used the same colours for the dots on the other nails to tie it all together.

I think it turned out pretty well. It's definitely eye-catching! I tried to keep the colours fairly Christmas-y but I just used whatever polishes I had out on my desk already.

22 December 2015

This is the last Twinsie Tuesday post for the year. We decided to go with a Holiday Special theme and it made it a lot easier to come up with a manicure. I managed to knock a week out of this mani before I took it off so it was pretty good going!

I tend to do a similar manicure around this time every year but with a few changes just to make it more fun and interesting to wear. I started off with a white base on all nails (both hands) so it would be easier to see what I was doing and to make the characters pop on the nail. I used the Essence studio nails Triple Care as my base and Essence the gel nail topcoat.

On my thumb I just went with candy cane stripes using Madam Glam Mint Cocktail and Barry m Red glitter over the white base. I replicated the design on both hands and it turned out pretty well! I'll probably do something similar for Christmas with just one of the characters.

21 December 2015

I loved the Essence Christmas collection this year but I had dupes of pretty much all the colours abar one. It took me 3 weeks to get my hands on 01 My Golden Pumps, a gold shredded glitter topper thanks to Penny's being slow to stock the collection. Funnily enough this is the only one I could actually find when I finally got around to it. The entire stand was wiped out!

My Golden Pumps is definitely worth the wait. It's jam packed with glitter, easy to apply and it looks great over a whole heap of colours. I layered one coat over Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Moto in the pictures above. It really shines on the nail, especially in artificial lighting. I'm delighted I was able to find it. Not only is the polish a good one but the bottle is so pretty and festive. It reminds me of the Dior and Revlon Parfumerie polishes with the round top.

My accent nail is 3 coats of Essence I <3 Trends 06 Sparkles in a bottle, another new polish I picked up. I made the mistake of layering this over a white polish and I didn't love it. I would have only needed 2 coats if I layered it over a silver. It's a pretty sparkly silver glitter that dries to a textured finish but it only needs one coat of topcoat to smooth it all out. I didn't bother with a topcoat on any of my nails and the manicure lasted 3 days without chipping which is pretty impressive!

15 December 2015

I have quite a few glitters in my stash and the majority of them are used during the month of December. Sparkly nails just stand out so much and they really make you feel so festive when you wear them. A lot of people do Christmas light themed manicures that are far more detailed but I honestly just wanted the glitter to do the work!

I started with a pure white base. Then I drew on the wire that the glitter lights will sit on using Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl. To help the glitters stand out and look more opaque I used a similar coloured base for each colour before the glitter.

Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Moto (red)

China Glaze Holly Day (Green)

Catrice Goldfinger (gold)

GOSH Silver

Once I had finished and all of the dots were dry I added on the glitter:

Barry m Red Glitter

China Glaze Running in Circles

OPI Goldfinger

Essence the gel nail polish Girl's Best Friend

I think they turned out pretty well. I love the colours and they sparkly just enough without being too overpowering or "cluttered" looking. I had Coldplay's "Christmas Lights" song in my head the whole time I was writing this post up :P

14 December 2015

These are old nails (back in June I think?) but I've been saving them for this time of year. I think they suit it pretty well. It's not anything difficult but the glitter topper is nice and sparkly and it looks so pretty over that shimmery purple base.

I used 2 coats of Barry m Orchid. Once that had dried I added on one coat of Starlight, also from Barry m. I topped it off with Essence the gel nails topcoat to stop it from chipping. I wore this manicure for a good week and it looked great all the way through.

The only downside is that the star glitter sticks out through the topcoat sometimes and they catch on your clothes and hair. It's a pain in the arse! I love how they look and it's not a huge problem but once the star glitters bends it is so hard not to pick it off your nail.

11 December 2015

I'm late on this weeks A Weekly Dose of Rainbows post but I finally had time to do a Winter Forest themed manicure. It's pretty basic in fairness but I like it :)

I started off with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 674 Nightwatch. I did one thicker layer of this polish. You would need 2 if you were wearing it on its own but I was going to cover it with glitter so it was grand at one.

The aforementioned glitter used is Essence Special Effects topper in 10 Glorious Aquarius (the old one, I think they recently reformulated it) For the little trees I used a white base first and then added on Madam Glam Mint Cocktail for the green and Barry m Mushroom for the brown.

It looked lovely with a glossy topcoat and you could really see the holographic glitters in Glorious Aquarius but I took the pictures at night and without a matte topcoat you couldn't really see anything. A coat of Essence Satin Matte topcoat helped to show the design and glitters off a bit more but it killed the holographic. Just trust me when I say it was there :P

08 December 2015

Today I have the 3 SOSU Christmas release polishes to show ye. These are marketed as gel like polishes that do not require a lamp (like the Sally Hansen Miracle Gels and the Essence the gel nail polishes) They say you apply these "in one easy action" which I assume means in one coat but that's not true in my experience. I have mixed feelings on the collection as a whole but lets get on to the swatches.

**ETA** These are not Gel polishes. They are regular polishes. If you compare them to the Essence the gel nail polishes or the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel you will see a massive difference. They don't dry with a glossy finish. They all need a couple of coats and you won't get more than a couple of days of wear before they chip, just like a regular old polish. So don't buy them thinking you will get a Salon like result because that's not going to happen. The gel name is misleading.

Poison Apple

Not a very festive name but one of the prettiest Christmas-y polishes I own. Poison Apple is a beautiful Christmas tree green with a strong golden shimmer running through it. I love this one. It's basically China Glaze Glittering Garland but it's a tiny bit lighter in colour and the shimmer is more apparent in Poison Apple. If you have Glittering Garland you might not want to pick this up.

I have on 2 coats without a top or base coat. I would recommend wearing a basecoat with this one. Green polishes can stain pretty badly so you're better off using one just in case. Poison Apple has a great formula, opaque in 2 coats and the shimmer is really noticeable on the nail.

Rudolph's Mistress

A more festive name (although a bit of a weird one!) Rudolph's Mistress is a red glitter in a red tinted jelly base. I was slightly disappointed with this one initially as I thought it would be a full on glitter like Barry m Red Glitter. I tried to wear this on its own but I didn't like it. I would need a good 3-4 coats and it just didn't pop on my nails.

I layered 2 coats of Rudolph's Mistress over one coat of Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Moto and it looks amazing. I much prefer it as a layering polish. It actually sparkles on the nail (far more than it shows in the pictures) and it looks beautiful. It definitely needs a topcoat just to add a shine to it but it is still a good polish. It has a good bit of glitter in there so there is no hassle applying it especially if you layer it over an opaque red.

Silver Lining

Not a very festive name at all, Silver Lining is a basic silver foil. It reflects a tiny bit but it's pretty shimmery so it has a bit of sparkle, especially in the sun. The formula is a bit dodgy for me. I tried it out a few times and you'd need to go with thicker coats to get this opaque in 2-3 coats. If you do thin coats you'll need at last 4 especially if you have longer nails or a visible nail line. It's also a bit runny so you'd want to be careful applying this so you don't have a lot of clean up to do afterwards.

I have 3 coats on in the picture, no base or topcoat. It's a pretty standard colour that you'd probably use a lot around this time of year but not much during the rest of the year. Out of the 3 this is the one I'd skip.

The dry time on all of these is pretty good. They took a couple of minutes and I had no trouble with dragging or streaking. They have a wide brush like the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure and Miracle Gel polishes.

SOSU Quick Dry topcoat-Wear test

I ended up doing a wear test using Poison Apple along with the SOSU Quick Dry topcoat to see how it faired out. I used one coat of Essence Studio Nails Triple Care as my base, 2 coats of Poison Apple and one coat of the Quick Dry topcoat. The topcoat dries pretty quickly with a decent shine but it wouldn't take over from the Essence the gel nail polish Topcoat for me. That has a far better shine to it, it's more affordable and it's thicker (in a good way) so it covers any lumps and bumps nicely in one coat. The SOSU topcoat is thinner and a bit runny. I don't think it would work all that well over a glitter unless you used a couple of coats.

After a day I noticed tiny chips on a couple of my nails but they were minuscule so you wouldn't notice them unless you were scrutinizing your nails like I was. By day 5 I had chips on the sides of a few nails so I took it off. I don't think it would have lasted more than that. Once they started chipping it was really easy to chip more and more off. They are on the more expensive side at €7.99 a bottle so if you were inclined to get one I'd go for the more unique colours. Bare in mind that everyone is different and I have read some reviews that claim the polish chipped on them within a couple of hours so read around and see which polishes have the best reviews. I can't say how well the other 2 wear as I haven't worn Silver Lining for long and you have to layer Rudolph's Mistress so that wouldn't be a true test of that polish. If you are looking a nice Christmas Green then I would keep Poison Apple in mind, it really is pretty.

07 December 2015

This years Late Late Toy Show was one of the best yet. I wasn't a huge fan of the jumper but it was a lot better than last years picks (I skipped this manicure last year because of that). Every year they have a good amount of jumpers but I went with the Gingerbread design for this post. I think the colours were the most traditional. I was tempted to do a Beauty and the Beast theme but I've already done that twice before (see HERE and HERE if you missed them!)

I started off with 2 coats of China Glaze Holly Day. The red for the peppermint sweets, the candy canes and the scarf is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Right Said fred. The Brown for the gingerbread man is Barry m Mushroom. For the eyes I used Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl (my absolute favourite black) Finally the gold snowflake on my pinky is Catrice Goldfinger.

I'm pretty pleased with it. It matches the jumper pretty well in terms of colour and the different design elements. Plus it's a Christmas themed manicure, Sure you can't go wrong with that!

05 December 2015

If you are looking for something a bit different this year then this may be the post for you. As much as I like getting fun things for Christmas it's great to get something a bit different than the norm.

1) A planner

I started using a planner and it is one of the best things I have bought in a long time. I bought mine from Personal Planner as they have the most customisable planner available, it is affordable and there are tonnes of discounts floating around to save you even more money (so you can buy more gifts for people!) You can choose which month you want the planner to start, what added features you want (like an address book at the back) and you can design the front and back cover yourself or use some of the templates already available.

The only downside is that it might take a good hour or two for you to sort it all out and get the look that you want but it is so worth it. The last day for ordering to get it before Christmas is the 6th. Code for 10% off: H-OLID-AY10

2) Travel Mug

The handiest thing to have when it's cold out. It keeps your drink warm and it's safe to bring around with you without the fear of it spilling and scalding yourself. You can get these everywhere but I prefer ones that actually have a lid that almost seals when you put it on. Some of the Bodum travel mugs are on sale for €15 in Currys at the moment which is a great deal. It's one of those things that you get so much use out of whether you drive or you take the bus or train but it's not often you think of actually buying one for yourself.

3) Gift cards

I will admit I'm not the biggest fan of gift-cards as gifts. It just screams "I couldn't be arsed looking for something" BUT there are some exceptions to this rule.

Apple iTunes gift cards are incredibly handy. I love having cd's but sometimes I only like one song from an album so I'd sooner just buy that song and save my money. Every fortnight they release a little playlist of songs that cost just 69 cent each and you can get some real gems in there.

Another good one is a book voucher. I think it's easy enough to get a book that someone will like if you just have a browse through their bookshelf or just take note whenever they mention something but if you are stuck then an Easons or Amazon voucher is the way to go.

Boots is always a good choice seeing as they are fairly common around the country and they have a great range of beauty, electrical and a whole heap of other stuff available.

4) PJ's

Penny's is the best place in the world for pyjamas. They are THE softest and most comfortable things in the whole entire world. To be honest you don't really need to know the persons exact size, as long as you are in and around the right size you're grand. The selection they have is unreal, you will definitely find something to suit. Plus they only cost between €8- €18 depending on what you are looking for.

That's it for the bits on the side. Hopefully something caught your eye and helps you to pick out some ideas to add to your list this year.

03 December 2015

I actually googled this to see what would come up and I ended up with a load of My Little Pony type images. Very confusing! It's actually a space/ night sky inspired manicure that looks better in person than the pictures are showing. Unfortunately this was a favourite of mine but it really doesn't come across the same on camera.

I started with the same white base as my previous post. Then using a tissue I dabbed on the following polishes (no specific order really) :

01 December 2015

Some of the Twinsies are posting about Lung Cancer Awareness today. All of the information below was arranged by Amanda from Amandalandish after being contacted and asked to raise awareness for the disease.

As she approaches her 10 year anniversary of being cancer free after having her left lung removed, she reached out and asked to help spread the word about bringing awareness towards the very preventable disease of mesothelioma.

What is mesothelioma?

A rare form of cancer, mesothelioma occurs in the thin lining of the body's internal organs and in roughly 70% of all cases, is found in the pleural lining of the lungs. Approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the US alone and while early detection leads to higher rates of remission, the US suffers 2,500 mesothelioma-based deaths a year.

So how do we beat the odds and bring awareness towards such a preventable and treatable disease?

First of all, understand that 80% of all mesothelioma cases can be attributed to asbestos exposure. Shockingly, neither the US nor Canada have any such bans on asbestos exposure which put as estimated 20 million people in the US at risk for developing this disease. Given that the latency period between the first exposure to asbestos and developing mesothelioma is typically between 20 to 40 years, this is truly a long term problem affecting many people at potentially the weakest times in their lives.

In addition to educating ourselves of the laws in our own backyard, we can also educate ourselves on our own body health. While focused on our lung health, we can also "double dip"; there are many charities that both give back while helping us keep our lungs healthy in the process. For example, with Miles for Meso, you can can sponsor and partake in charitable 5Ks with proceeds going to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

There are simply so many options for us when attempting to spread lung health awareness!

Another way to bring awareness to this campaign is by wearing PEARL, so in honor of #pearlylungs #healthylungs, a number of bloggers and Instagrammers will be posting pearl manis.

Here is the manicure I wore for this post.

I started off with a coat of white polish. I added Essence I <3 Trends 13 Ice to Meet you on top as it can be a bit sheer on its own. This is a shimmery polish that I thought would work well for this post. I don't think I have any pearly polishes so this is the closest I have.
I topped it off with Sally Hansen 3D Gel shine topcoat as I don't really love the matte finish on Ice to meet you.